Method and apparatus for monitoring transient electrical strikes

Abstract

A transient electrical energy strike detector is disclosed. The detector may be integral with the circuitry of a fire alarm panel of a fire alarm system and may identify and record transient electrical energy strikes sustained by the electrical protection circuitry of the system. Particularly, voltage fluctuations in the fire alarm panel circuitry that are outside of a predefined operating voltage range may be identified by the pulse detector as representing transient electrical energy strikes. The pulse detector may increment a counter upon the occurrence of each identified transient energy strike, and may maintain a comprehensive record of such strikes in a memory unit, including a magnitude, duration, time, and date of each strike.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE[0001]The disclosure relates generally to electrical protection systems, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for monitoring electrical circuitry for the occurrence of transient electrical energy strikes.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0002]Fire alarm systems typically include one or more centralized fire alarm panels for controlling and / or receiving information from sensors and notification devices distributed throughout a structure. Such fire alarm panels, sensors, and notification devices are typically connected to one another by conductive field wiring that can extend many hundreds, or even thousands, of feet. Due to its length, the field wiring is susceptible to transient electrical energy that may be generated by sources such as nearby lightning strikes and electrical motor startups. Such transient energy strikes can damage or disable a fire alarm system, causing premature failure and rendering the system incapable of detecting and / or providing ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present disclosure describes a device called a pulse detector that can identify and record electrical energy strikes in a fire alarm system. These detections, which may occur when voltage fluctuations outside of a normal range are detected, are treated as transient electrical energy strikes. The pulse detector can also record information about the magnitude, duration, time, and date of each strike. This allows for a comprehensive record of these detections to be maintained, which can aid in identifying potential hazards and taking appropriate actions to prevent damage or injury.

Problems solved by technology

Due to its length, the field wiring is susceptible to transient electrical energy that may be generated by sources such as nearby lightning strikes and electrical motor startups.

Such transient energy strikes can damage or disable a fire alarm system, causing premature failure and rendering the system incapable of detecting and / or providing notification of hazardous conditions.

While stress tests such as the one described above are generally effective for evaluating the performance of fire alarm system protection circuitry at the particular time such a test is performed, there have heretofore been no means for continuously monitoring fire alarm systems for the occurrence of actual transient energy events.

For example, if an alarm system fails prior to the expiration of its expected useful life, a customer may assume that the premature failure resulted from deficiencies in the quality of the protection circuitry in the system, when the failure was in-fact caused by an inordinate number of transient energy strikes to the system.

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